K1 GBA Is Launched! And Here’s Your Chance To Win A Free One!

The K1 has been a very long time coming, but after many months of testing and tweaking, the shiny new gadgets are finally starting to roll off the production line.

For those unaware of what the K1 solution is all about, here’s a quick run down. If you’re already up to speed you might want to skip this paragraph. Up until now if you wanted to play GBA titles on anything but a GBA, you had to rely on emulation. Emulators are great, but they’ll never be perfect. Some demanding titles don’t run very well or at all, some games have graphical glitches or slow downs and there are many other imperfections which can detract from the gaming experience. The K1 is a real reverse engineered GBA – this means that the hardware can run GBA titles natively and there is no emulation taking place. The result is that all those glitchy or broken GBA games will work just fine on the K1 hardware. Check my other posts for more details and a video of the prototype in action, and read on to find out how to get one!

Very soon they’ll be making their way to a dedicated online store which has been set up solely for this device and its accessories.  To celebrate the launch of www.k1gba.com the nice people at the shop want to give away one of these marvellous machines to a lucky winner of their competition. To find out more and to enter, just check the competition page on the top right of the obscurehandhelds homepage, or click here to go straight there!

You may notice there is a FAQ on the k1gba website (click), this will be updated over time with new questions and answers when they arise. When stock arrives at the store the staff will be happy to test things for anyone who asks and will update the FAQ with the answers. You can’t say fairer than that, can you?

So, if you’ve been waiting for one of these then now’s your chance to save some pennies and prepare yourself for the upcoming arrival of the K1 GBA! Best of luck in the competition too!

36 thoughts on “K1 GBA Is Launched! And Here’s Your Chance To Win A Free One!”

  1. So far I haven’t been able to save anything. Zelda, super Mario World etc. if I switch off the machine, there’s nothing left. Even using light+down doesn’t work. What do I do wrong?

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  2. Can someone explain to me why a system that came out over 11 years ago can’t be exactly duplicated for about $15 today?

    And when I say “exactly” I mean EXACTLY – not 99% of games working – 100%. If the original had a real-time-clock, the duplicate should too. And if the original was backwards compatible with Game Boy Original and Game Boy Color games – the duplicate should be too. I just don’t understand what the problem is.

    In fact, it really should be possible to /improve/ on the design. More RAM, faster CPU/GPU, turbo buttons, flash memory for on-demand save states (even of cartridges) and a built-in media player….

    I’m not trying to be a jerk, I’m really confused as to what the problem is.

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    • I guess you’re going to show us how it’s done? While you’re at it making the oerfect clone, please make a neo geo pocket clone as well since you seem to be a real genius.

      Reply
  3. Nice developments! Sorry for asking but I couldn’t find the price of the handheld in K1’s site, how much does it cost? The bundle idea is good, buying all-in-one is much comfortable.

    Reply
  4. My K1’s back light died :/

    The thing has been screwy since the day I got it but it’s finally gone kaput.

    That’s what I get for buying a prototype.

    Good to know I’ll be able to replace it if I so choose to.

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  5. Great idea! But:
    No motions sensors for wario twisted rom?
    Not so easy to find.
    No way to play multiplayer without cables with others k1 gba’s?

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      • Where you all find all these other retro gamers to play multiplayer GBA with anyway? I can barely find anyone with a DSi/3DS to get streetpass stuff from, and you all are worried about sitting in a room with another person – cabled together – playing Pokemon? You must network a lot better than I do. Or have more gaming friends.

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    • Sorry. K1 can not support light or motions sensors games such as wario twisted rom. K1 is using K-card to play games. Different from some original cateriages, K card was not installed light/ motion sensor chip.

      Yes, you need to link other K1 GBA to play multiplayer games with the multi-link cable. K1gba.com had prepared you one on line. You can take a look at it.

      We will make some bundles for K1 such as K1 + multi-link cable or K1 + memory card+ Pouch bag ect in the future. This will let you let what you want in one set.

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      • I wouldn’t see much of a point in building a motion sensor console for one game that you can buy for $15 and for which there’s also a rom hack.

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  6. @K1:
    Are you selling the same GBA SP “solution” in your webshop as maxzhou via taobao?
    And could you maybe give an estimate when you’ll receive the units?
    Thanks and kind regards

    Reply
    • Thanks for your inquiry.Yes, what we sell on K1gba.com is totally the same as maxzhou sell via taobao. We got cooperation with them. Since people find it difficult to buy via taobao. Then we create our on line shop for shipping worldwide.

      For the arrival time, we are very sorry that we do not know whether we can get it back as we still got something to fix the device. We will release this device when we restock it. You can keep focusing on our website- k1gba.com.

      Thanks.

      Reply
  7. It’s a shame that RTC is not included in this model… I think I will wait the new release with RTC implemented. Does any one know in how much time approximately the K-Team will release the new GBA SP model?? I hope it isn’t too much, RTC is very important for games such as Pokemon… Thanks!

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      • Maybe you’re right. I already have original Pokémon Sapphire and Fire Red, but I would like to know if other games, and not only the Pokemon series, like Golden Sun use RTC. thanks

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      • Ok, finally I have decided not to worry too much about the RTC function and give the K-Team GBA SP a try. Furthermore, I have just tested my original Pokemon Sapphire cartridge and logically battery is over. It really only affects berry growth and a few more things, but the game can perfectly play normally.

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    • I love Bokai! That’s it. Three boktai games and five Pokemon if count the remakes. An M3 perfect with rtc will run $100 if you can find one. I’d rather buy the games just be careful of bootlegs

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    • I do not think you can not play Pokemon without RTC on K1 GBA SP. We had contacted Maxzhou. And he confirmed this on K1. At the same time, he suggest to download the plus to remove the RTC and play Pokeman games. Either of these two ways are OK.

      Reply
  8. WOW… looking forward to this device… I have never heard of until right now….

    I know little of the device but will get one as soon as I can afford one (pre ordered the GCW) so if the price is low enough and its backlit I will grab one for sure !

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      • It does have RTC. Mine doesn’t have video out, not that I care. The screen on mine isn’t better than my AGS101 it has a noticeable blue cast. It’s not a big deal but I know hardware details are subject to change

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      • Mine is blue with RTC. I just got an email from K team and they expect the new run to have a better screen. I’m looking forward to seeing it.

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    • Not real time save RTS but real time clock RTC. It keeps time in games like Pokemon. I know for some this will be huge but I really don’t care about pikachus and the like. I’d rather have soft reset and RTS. I’d be great if those features were in the pipe

      Reply

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